DAVID BARBER

Sports Correspondent

After finishing their non-district schedule with an even 2-2 record, the Van Vandals now enter their most important stretch of games as they will begin their quest for a District 8-4A, Division 2, championship.

Their first test will come Friday, Sept. 23, in the district opener when the Vandals host one of their rivals, the Brownsboro Bears, also 2-2, in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Van’s Memorial Stadium.

“Coach Connat has done a really good job at Brownsboro,” pointed out Vandal Head Coach Jared Moffatt. “He is in his second year there. They got drastically better as their season went on last year and it is the same this year.

“Offensively, Brownsboro is a very talented football team,” continued Moffatt. “Their quarterback has played well. They throw a lot. Brownsboro has athletic receivers that can make big plays. Their running back is playing well. They have a very dangerous offensive football team that scores a lot of points.

“Defensively, Brownsboro has been in an odd front,” said Moffatt. “They can be multiple in their looks. Their players really play hard. They are very aggressive. They have every intention of coming into our stadium and beating us in the first district game. We have to have the same mindset. There are a lot of emotions involved in this game.”

With every member of District 8-4A, Division 2, having played four non-district games, Moffatt said that his views about the race for the district championship have not changed much since the regular season started in late August.

“Carthage is the best team in the district,” said Moffatt. “After that, it is going to be a knock down, drag out. Everybody else in the district is very capable of beating one another. If you don’t play well, you are in trouble. There are going to be some close games in this district. Center is scoring a lot of points. Rusk is 3-1 and playing well. Canton won a big game over Mabank. Bullard is 1-3 but they are playing better this year.”

The Vandals will be looking to break a two-game losing streak, including a disappointing 45-13 loss at Paris in their non-district finale Sept. 16.

“The key to a bad night like we had against Paris is what is going to be our response,” said Moffatt. “We have evaluated the film and we will fix the mistakes. We now need to get focused on our district opener against Brownsboro. We need to have a good week of practice. We just need to go out and play well against Brownsboro. Our kids will stay together and play hard. That is the only response we can have to a bad night. That will be the key for us.”

Moffatt is confident that his team will respond well to the adversity as they begin district play against the Bears.

“Our kids have faced adversity already this season,” emphasized Moffatt. “They responded well in the second half against Lindale. Our kids are going to line up and play the next down. I have never worried about our kids’ mentality and their ability to respond. We just have to line up and play better. We cannot win the game on the last play, but we can win the game on the next play. I have full confidence that our players will perform better against Brownsboro.”

In other District 8-4A, Division 2, openers, Friday, Sept. 23, the Canton Eagles (2-2) will travel to Center to take on the Center Roughriders while the Carthage Bulldogs will host the Bullard Panthers. The Rusk Eagles will have a bye.

Moffatt and the Vandals are awaiting word on the playing status of senior linebacker Beau Barton for the district opener against Brownsboro.

Barton was ejected from the game at Paris Sept. 16 in the first quarter as the official said that Barton ‘allegedly’ kicked a Paris player during a punt.

“Let me make this clear, I don’t think there is any way that Beau should have been ejected from that game based on the video that I have watched,” emphasized Moffatt. “The referee told me that Beau kicked the kid. I saw no evidence of that on the video. I talked to the Paris head coach. He talked to his player and his player told him that Beau did not kick him.

“It comes down to this,” continued Moffatt. “The official made a mistake. I do not sit around and say that officials are bad people and that they are cheaters. They are trying to do the best job that they can. They are human. The officials did not lose the game for us against Paris. If we had played better, we would have had a great chance to win. You can’t turn the ball over like we did and win. It was a bad night. It happens sometimes. We now have to find ways to overcome it.”

Under University Interscholastic League (UIL) rules, when a player is ejected from the game, he must sit out the first half of the next game so, as of press time, Barton will not play against Brownsboro until the start of the third quarter, according to Moffatt.

“This is a really bad deal,” said Moffatt. “This is significant that Beau cannot play until after halftime against Brownsboro in the district opener but that appears to be the direction that we are heading. I completely disagree with the UIL rule on this. These players get to play at least 10 regular season games. Being ejected from one game to me seems to be enough punishment. This is Beau’s senior year. He missed three and a half quarters against Paris last Friday night. That should be enough punishment.”

Moffatt said that he contacted the UIL after the Paris game Saturday, Sept. 17 and received a response back from the UIL on Monday, Sept. 19.

“I talked to the president of the Commerce chapter of officials which is where the officiating crew in our game against Paris came from,” said Moffatt. “I have talked to the head coach at Paris. I am doing everything I can to find a way for Beau to play the entire game against Brownsboro, not just the second half. I don’t know if that is going to happen. I am not sure that there really is a standard appeal process regarding an ejected player. There has to be a recourse to account for human error by officials. The UIL leads toward defending officials, and I understand why. This is a bad situation.”

Van’s junior high football teams will be hosting Brownsboro Thursday, Sept. 22 beginning at 4:30 p.m. while the freshmen and junior varsity squads will be traveling to Brownsboro with the freshmen game starting at 5 p.m. followed by the J. V. contest.

For results of the Van/Brownsboro district opener as well as a preview of the Vandals’ visit to Canton Friday, Sept. 30 against their Van Zandt County rival, the Canton Eagles, check out www.vanzandtnews.com.